5 Tips for Organizing a Successful Interactive Conference

by Dan McCarthy on May 22, 2016

The conference is basically the bread and butter of the whole event. The
conference is what most of the attendees came for. If the presentation or
lecture bombs, then you can expect negative feedback and potentially a
decreased turnout the next time you have an event.

For a
successful conference,
you have to make it interactive rather than just
having the speaker
talk the whole time. Here’s 5 ways to ensure the audience becomes active
participants rather than passive listeners.

1. Don’t Leave Out the Q&A

Lectures hardly end as scheduled. It’s common for speakers to go a few minutes
over, resulting in the Q&A session being curtailed or canceled
altogether. It’s very important that the speaker takes questions from the
audience. This gives attendees the sense that the presenter is accessible and
not just some speaker that’s just doing what he’s paid to do.

Set aside at least 15 minutes to take questions from the audience. If the
conference is being streamed, and it should be, then you should also answer
questions from a remote audience submitting enquiries via social media.

Also keep in mind that Q&As don’t necessarily have to be held off until the
end. In fact, it’s recommended that you divide the Q&A into two sessions. If
the lecture is particularly long, like an hour or more, then have a 10-minute
Q&A at the 30-minute mark and another at the end.

2. Make It an Edutainment Session

Who says learning moments can’t also be fun? Even if you have a charismatic
speaker, if the conference drags on for hours, then even the most attentive
listeners are going to zone out. A good way to keep the audience engaged is
through a comedic speaker that can provide educational material while also
eliciting laughter.

It can be tricky to
find a speaker
that is knowledgeable in your field that also has a propensity for making
people laugh, but it’s worth the effort to find such a person. When an
audience is engaged,
they’ll be more inclined to ask questions, volunteer for demonstrations, etc.

Here’s a video of business
speaker and edutainer Mark Sanborn during one of his leadership conferences.

3. Hire a Professional Moderator

There should be a moderator to keep the speaker on track. The moderator’s role
is more important than most people realize. The person assigned this role has
big responsibilities that include but not limited to:

Introducing the speaker

Making sure the speaker stays on schedule

Informs the speaker to move onto the next topic

Facilitates the Q&A

Collects questions asked via social media

Announces intermissions

A good moderator also interjects when audience members are speaking over one
another, or calls for a brief break if the audience appears listless. The
person needs to be cognizant of attendee reaction and act accordingly.

The role of moderator is tougher than it looks, which is why you should
consider hiring a professional rather than designating the job to a staffer.

4. Incorporate Technology

Technology is always a good way to encourage participation in more ways than
one. One way is to incorporate an event app where the audience can take a
poll, in which the results will show up on a slide as it’s presented in real
time.

Another method is to
add a social media wall. Encourage
the audience to tweet their questions, which will appear on the wall. There
will likely be some questions that come up more than once. These are the
questions that can be taken and answered in detail.

If the conference is being streamed, then you can ask those watching remotely
to submit their questions in the form of a video. This adds a bit more depth
to the Q&A as you can associate a face with the question.

5. Campfire Sessions

Campfire sessions are ideal for smaller groups and is recommended if there’s
less than 20 people. These are more informal with the speaker taking more of a
facilitating role rather than that of a lecturer. These can also be set in a
more laid-back environment like a lounge or outside the venue. With these
type of sessions, the speaker kick starts the topic to get the ball
rolling. Others will then freely jump in to add their own input. Even if you
have a large audience, you can opt to hold multiple campfire sessions divided
into smaller groups.

Alternatively, if multiple presenters are available, and there’s enough venue
space, then you can eschew the conference altogether and instead hold the
campfire sessions in a workshop setting. If the session is being
live-streamed,
then you can even have several members
join the discussion
through a tool like Google Hangouts. Just be sure that the total number of
attendees – both live and remote – doesn’t become too large.

Make It a Two-Way Interaction

There will be a sense of separation between speaker and audience if all the
former does is speak nonstop. There has to be an outlet for the attendees to
become active participants in some shape or form.

Author Bio
McCarthy is an Event Manager at
Ultimate Experience, an event management
company based in the UK. Dan has 5 years of event project management under his
belt. He has worked on many successful events, and currently he shares his
knowledge by writing on the company blog. Follow him on Twitter
@DanCarthy2.